Posted on 03/03/2005 6:09:27 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Stalled in the polls and running out of time, Mayor James Hahn on Thursday launched the first TV attack ad of the mayoral campaign, tarring his main rivals as "Sacramento politicians" who pocketed cash from Enron Corp. while steering California toward an energy crisis.
The 30-second spot marked the start of a scalding advertising fight that is expected to intensify until Tuesday's election.
City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, one of the targets of Hahn's ad, responded within hours with a TV commercial that zeroed in on an ongoing corruption investigation at City Hall and asked, "Can we really trust Jim Hahn?"
When asked about Hahn's ad, former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg said, "Desperate candidates do desperate things." He did not discuss the substance of the ad in detail, but said he returned $13,000 in Enron donations, most of it last week.
Hertzberg planned to air a response that would show an enormous foot crushing a TV screen airing Hahn's commercial.
The attack on Villaraigosa and Hertzberg was expected. A Los Angeles Times poll this week found the three clustered together atop a field of 12 candidates, but also showed Hahn's support had flattened while Hertzberg was climbing swiftly.
Because of the crowded ballot, no candidate is expected to win more than 50 percent of the vote. If no one clears that threshold, the top two finishers would advance to a May 17 runoff.
Hahn has been drubbed by his rivals for months over the corruption probe, in which prosecutors are looking into whether city contracts were exchanged for campaign donations. He has been a tentative counter-puncher but signaled a change of direction earlier this week, sharpening his criticism of Hertzberg and Villaraigosa at a televised debate.
Hahn defended the ad's content, saying it raised "issues of judgment."
The mayor's ad also alludes to letters written by Villaraigosa and Hertzberg requesting a pardon for a convicted drug trafficker, the same issue Hahn used against Villaraigosa in a 2001 runoff.
"I've said many times I made a mistake," Villaraigosa said outside City Hall. "Jim Hahn will do anything and say anything to get re-elected."
Hertzberg also called his letter a mistake.
Analysts say TV ads could be a decisive factor in the race, in part because television is often the only practical way for candidates to reach voters in a city that sprawls over 450 square miles.
"Hahn needs to raise doubts about the other candidates," said John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. "If the low road gets you to your destination, that's what politicians will take."
Hahn's ad claims that Hertzberg worked secretly with Enron to bail out the now-disgraced company. And it attacks Villaraigosa for supporting a deregulation proposal sought by the company.
Hertzberg's campaign disputed the claim, saying he did not favor the company and worked routinely with consumer groups. Villaraigosa did not respond directly to the ad's claims about Enron, but said of Hahn, "He's throwing mud."
Houston-based Enron filed for bankruptcy protection after an accounting scandal came to light in December 2001. Several Enron officials have since pleaded guilty to manipulating prices during the state's energy crisis.
Any body got poll #'s?
I think the hispanic guy will likely take it
Anybody now bout him
Know bout him
sorry lots on my mind
March 1, LA Times poll
2 Rivals Eroding Hahn's Strengths
Villaraigosa and a surging Hertzberg have drawn even with the mayor for runoff slots.
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/timespoll/la-me-poll1mar01,1,6304429.story?coll=la-news-times_poll
If the election were held today, the poll found, Villaraigosa, a city councilman, would win 24%, followed by Hertzberg, 21%, and Hahn, 20%. In effect, though, the three are tied, because the margin of sampling error for likely voters is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Antonio V. has MEChA running thru his political veins.
Depends who has the greatest appeal to the dead. Dead, illegal, felons are even more important.
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